3/5 Weekly Email + Discipline Update
Hi all,
This is a bit of a long email - I have some detailed information on the city’s budget as well as some updates on employee discipline.
New Member Documents: This isn’t new information, per se, but our Communications Director Sophia Flocken has been hard at work refreshing the look of some of our older documents to make them more visually appealing and easier to read. I’ve attached new copies of those if you’d like to keep copies on your computer or print some out as easy references.
Job Highlight: UAEA is here to support people’s career development in 2026, and I wanted to continue highlighting some open roles on the Tempe hiring site (keep in mind there are far fewer than normal due to the hiring pause - the site normally has 60-80 open roles). I last did this on January 15th, and plan to continue doing so every few months. The below roles have been open for several months and the deadline for first reviews has come and gone - my assumption is that the departments have seen a lack of qualified candidates and are interested in interviewing anyone who can meet minimum qualifications. There are 39 open positions but I think these 3 are ones that more than 1 or 2 UAEA members might find interesting.
FACILITIES MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN - Facilities, Transportation, and TCA - Job Codes are 902383, 902387, and 902393. Range is 108 for all three.
There are three open positions related to maintenance of city buildings, each with a specific focus but all in the 108 range. The positions require 2 years of experience with facility maintenance or related experience - if your position currently involves repairs, maintenance, or cleanup, it may be worth putting in an application - being able to show you can follow directions (like install instructions) and have an attention to detail will likely help you out. The roles only require a high school diploma/GED and a certification in HVAC systems, which can be obtained within 6 months of hire.
UTILITIES SERVICES TECHNICIAN / SENIOR UTILITIES SERVICES TECHNICIAN / PRINCIPAL UTILITIES SERVICES TECHNICIAN - Job Code 902348. Ranges are 104, 106, and 108
These positions handle repairs to Tempe water systems. No experience with water infrastructure is needed to apply, just a high school diploma and some experience with “general construction, plumbing, HVAC systems or related fields.” If you have Facilities or Building Maintenance experience, you can probably get an interview. You can get all necessary certifications for this role in your first year on the job, and it’s a flex-series, meaning you can automatically be promoted to higher ranges once you have a certain amount of experience and certificates.
SUPPORT ANALYST/SENIOR SUPPORT ANALYST - IT - Job Code 902378. Range is either 108 or 111
IT needs people to staff their service desk and the minimum qualifications for the base level roles are 1 year of customer service experience and a high school diploma. The senior level requires some IT certifications and 3 years of support desk experience, but the certs are things you can probably learn on the job/through the City’s educational partnership while working in the base level role. A background in IT or problem-solving will almost certainly help, but if you currently work in a Tempe role that involves customer service, it may be worth putting in an app - this posting has been open since November
DETENTION TRANSPORTATION OFFICER - Job Code 902422 - Range is 109
Not everyone is aware that UAEA represents several different roles in the Police department ranging from admins to some IT staff, to detention officers. This position helps maintain safety in the Tempe jail as well as during prisoner transports to Maricopa County facilities. It only requires a high school diploma and “Six (6) months of experience in law enforcement, corrections/detention, or related experience” - I think if you have any experience in security, such as working as a bouncer, you may qualify - even work in somewhat innocuous but potentially precarious roles, such as Park Rangers, Homeless Outreach or CARE7 may be enough to get an interview.
Want to apply but not sure where to start? Don’t forget we have some resume templates and hiring resources on our website, exclusive to members - check them out if you want to get a leg-up on the hiring process.
Tempe Festival for the Arts: Just as a reminder, Tempe’s Spring Festival for the Arts is next weekend, from Friday, March 13th, to Sunday, March 15th, in Downtown Tempe. It’s a nice local event that showcases a lot of different artists and mediums - even if you don’t plan to buy anything, it’s fun just to walk around and see all the offerings. You can see a list of vendors and events on the website. Parking for the event may be difficult but you can access it quite easily if you take the light rail from a different part of town to the Mill Avenue Light Rail station. It’s probably too late to get a pass by this weekend, but don’t forget you are entitled to a free Platinum Lightrail Pass as a City employee.
City Council Updates: I attended last week’s City Council Work Study Session to listen to Deputy City Manager Lisette Camacho’s presentation on the updated budget forecast. There were some interesting takeaways and I’ve typed up a brief summary below.
This is the second year Tempe hasn’t been doing supplemental budget requests from departments - this is mainly due to the state’s repeal of the residential rental tax, but also other factors like the incorporation of San Tan Valley in southern Arizona have also cut into Tempe’s share of the state’s budget. Tempe has been making up the budget gap by pulling from their rainy day fund - their hope is that by doing so they can maintain current service levels, employee pay, and employee benefits over the next 5 years. While there are some positive trends in Arizona, such as our inflation rate finally falling below the national average and average household income increasing over the last year, the rental tax loss has left a gap - while retails sales tax collection is up, there’s still a large gap between incoming revenues before and after the repeal of the rental tax.
UAEA will continue to monitor the City’s budget - we’re very interested in the financial health of the City and want our members up-to-date on where we stand at all times. If you’d like to watch or listen to the presentation yourself, you can find it here (it starts around the third minute).
Avoiding Discipline: I wrote an email in October of 2024 that dealt with different ways employees could avoid facing discipline. It covered lunch and break policy, drug and alcohol usage, proper internet and city property usage, failure to report outside employment/secondary jobs, and discrimination against fellow employees. I would encourage members to review that so they are up-to-date on City standards - you can be punished for violating City rules even if the action is a common occurrence in your workgroup or department.
I recently received some updated details on the disciplines issued to non-supervisory employees in the last year and wanted to provide a few more pointers. 2025 saw 26 disciplines of non-supervisory employees, up from 16 in 2024 and 22 in 2023 - members should be aware there has been a slight uptick in the total number of disciplines occurring. About half of these were of non-UAEA members, so I can’t speak intelligently about the background details of each case, but I have aggregated the data to give everyone a better idea of what the process looks like and what people are being written up for, both in the past year and since 2021.
Of the 26 disciplines issued in 2025, every single one resulted in at least a written reprimand and none were dismissed. 42% (11) of the disciplines resulted in a written reprimand, 31% (8) resulted in a suspension, and 27% (7) resulted in a termination. When a suspension was issued, the average length was 31 hours, but the range was 8 hours as a low and 60 as a high, with a median of 40 hours. Adding this data to our historical records shows that the 5-year average for disciplines is a bit different - since 2021, 47.5% of disciplines have resulted in a written reprimand, 35.6% have resulted in a suspension, 15.8% have resulted in terminations, and 1% were dismissed entirely. The average suspension length is usually 29.8 hours, with a range of 8 to 121 hours and a median of 36 hours. UAEA’s board is well aware of the recent rise in terminations and have been working to try and prevent these from happening - we have spent the last 6 months educating departments on alternatives to discipline like coaching sessions, formal training, and PIPs, and have insisted that departments provide adequate documentation showing their efforts to fix employee performance prior to discipline (when applicable).
I also don’t want to concern employees too much with these numbers - we represent about 800 non-supervisory employees and the City only issued 26 disciplines to non-supervisory employees in 2026. Disciplines are not assigned at random, but if they were you would only have a 3% chance of facing discipline in the last year. I also am working with a limited data set but I believe I have evidence indicating that UAEA members usually receive lower discipline punishments on average than non-UAEA members, likely because we know how to help you write responses that directly address the City’s concerns.
In terms of the actual disciplines being issued, most continue to contain the same basic accusations (most contain at least 2 separate accusations related to violations of City policy, some contain 4-6). 31% of 2025 cases dealt with accused violations of 406.C.2 (acted negligently, recklessly, or carelessly in performing their duties during a specific incident or incidents), 23% dealt with violations of 406.C.1 (exhibited a lack of sufficient competency or efficiency to perform assigned duties and responsibilities.), 406.C.4 (been insubordinate or has failed to follow reasonable direction from a supervisor.), or 406.C38 (failed to adhere to Tempe Police Department Policies and Procedures, Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Department Policies and Procedures, Arizona Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees, Arizona Judicial Code of Conduct, or any other applicable City department written policy or guideline), and 19% dealt with violations of 406.C.11 (engaged in behavior that does not meet a reasonable standard of workplace civility and respect in their interactions with other employees, or the public. ) or 406.C.33 (had unexcused, unpaid absences or has failed to receive prior approval for any paid leave). This is very similar to the 5-year average for disciplines.
I understand those above descriptions are somewhat vague so here’s a little more context - in the cases we’ve helped with, violations of 406.C.2 usually related to damage an employee had caused while using City vehicles or incidents where they had performed perceived risky activities while doing their job. Violations of 406.C.1 usually have related to employees failing to meet some average level of performance compared to their peers or not properly handling job responsibilities they were trained on. Violations of 406.C.4 usually related to employees being rude to their supervisors or not following direct instructions about time-sensitive projects. Violations of 406.C.38 usually deal with employees in PD, Courts, or Fire violating some more specific workgroup policy related to daily tasks or information security, violations of 406.C.11 usually related to employees being rude to their supervisor, fellow employees, or City residents, and 406.C.33 usually relates to employees who are out of sick leave and taking absences without following unpaid sick leave policies. There are 14 other reasons that people were written up in the past year but they only occurred in a few cases. I think the general takeaways are thus that employees should do their best to operate equipment safely, treat their coworkers with respect and courtesy, and familiarize themselves with workgroup policies (and refresh themselves or ask questions if they are ever confused). With regards to the safe operation of equipment, UAEA has never seen a disciplinary case where someone was written up for performing too many safety checks or for ignoring a supervisor when the supervisor gives them an inappropriate or unsafe order. Don’t feel like you ever need to choose between efficiency and safety - UAEA and the City want you to choose safety every single time.
I hope this information helps employees better understand the disciplinary process and possible outcomes if they are facing discipline. If you have any additional questions about discipline or the above data, feel free to ask - I may do a followup in a few weeks if enough people ask questions that may be relevant to the broader group.
City Manager Town Hall Meeting: This is a reminder that Tempe City Manager Rosa Inchausti will be hosting an Employee Town Hall on Thursday, March 12th at the Tempe Center for the Arts. A calendar invite should have been sent to all employees - if not, all you need to know is that doors open at 8:30AM and the event starts at 9:30AM. If you’d like to attend, please let your supervisor know as soon as possible - management is encouraging as many employees as possible to attend, but some areas may need to limit employees attending to ensure adequate coverage of essential Tempe services throughout the morning.
There is a link if you want to submit any questions you have in advance. If you feel uncomfortable submitting them through the link, feel free to email them to me at president@uaeatempe.com and I’ll pass them along.
Adopt a Path: UAEA will be cleaning up our Adopt-a-Path trail on Saturday, March 7th, from 7:30-9AM - all members and their families are welcome to attend. We meet in the Tempe Parking Lot on the southeast Corner of Curry and Miller (approximate address is 1325 E Curry Road, Tempe AZ 85281, see attached photo), then walk north up our path to Mckellips Rd. Breakfast, drinks, safety gloves, trash pickers, and trash bags will be provided. Please bring a hat and/or sunglasses. This event normally takes 1.5 hours to complete, is eligible for community wellness points, and is a great opportunity to meet members of the board and your fellow union members. If you’d like to attend, please sign up here by Thursday, March 5th (tonight) at 5pm.
March Meeting Signup: Our next membership meeting will be Thursday, March 19th, from 12-1pm at the Kiwanis Recreation Center (6111 S All-American Way, Tempe AZ, 85283). Representatives from Employee Development will be present with a brief presentation on upcoming class offerings and an opportunity for questions. You can rsvp here until March 12th.
Art Contest: UAEA is hosting its first-ever union art contest, from now until March 26th. We are looking for your interpretations of what union work looks like in the 21st century and would love to see as many entries as possible, regardless of your skill level. We are also accepting entries from both members and their families, and have some great prizes for the eventual winners (who we’re aiming to announce in our Q2 Newsletter). Please see the attached flyer for more details - the same flyer will be on bulletin boards in the next week. You can use the QR codes or the attached links to submit entries or review the full rule list.
Thanks for a great week, everyone!
All best,